Police accountable to system, not individuals: Delhi top cop Bassi

Ahead of his meeting with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal over the increasing incidents of crime, police commissioner BS Bassi said that if his department is working according to the law, no criticism or attack on their character will affect them.

“The police are accountable to a system and not to any individual,” Bassi told reporters after his meeting with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung at his residence.

Bassi said his meeting with the LG was a weekly one in which he discussed Delhi’s law and order scenario and strategy to make it safer for the people.

“We are the strong arm of the government and have a big responsibility,” Bassi added.

His meeting with Kejriwal comes after the AAP leader renewed his long-standing demand for handing over control of Delhi Police, which is currently under the Union home ministry, to his government.Keeping up his tirade against the Centre on the functioning of Delhi Police, Kejriwal also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into his demand seriously, alleging that law and order in the capital was “on a decline”. He had criticised Delhi Police for the “deteriorating” law and order situation.

Kejriwal’s demand came after a 19-year-old girl was brutally stabbed and killed by two stalkers in Anand Parbat area of the Capital on Thursday. The girl’s parents said police had not acted on several complaints filed by their daughter.

Bassi said he will meet the chief minister at 4pm to discuss means to “ensure the safety of the people of Delhi”.

On Sunday, Bassi had told the media that he will try to dispel “misconceptions” about the functioning of Delhi Police during his meeting with Kejriwal.

“I will definitely go and meet him and we will exchange our thoughts. There is a possibility of him telling us something useful and maybe I will be able to share something informative about policing because I have been working for 38 years in the department,” he had said.

The AAP has been at loggerheads with Delhi Police over a number of issues and the party has stepped up its attack against the force after the arrest of two of its MLAs. It has accused Delhi Police of “bias” against it, saying its legislators are being “targeted” under political pressure.